United Reformed Church in Cheltenham
URCiC Activities

The United Reformed Church in Cheltenham offers worship, learning and fellowship to all who seek it. To be a Christian involves serving God and our fellow human beings.

Worship

Naturally, this involves attending church where possible on Sundays and on the services page you can find all the times.

Children of all ages play a special part in the life of the church and they are welcome at all services. Sometimes  they leave part way through a service for their own Junior Church activities, but at Prestbury (2nd & 4th) and Warden Hill (1st) some Sundays in the month are designated as a  Family Service and the focus is on all-age worship throughout. Junior Church at The Church in Warden Hill is called  New Shoots and runs on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, and there is also a  cooking club on a religious theme on the 3rd  Sunday. Please have no worries about bringing children along to any service.

We baptise infants and believers, but for those who do not wish a full baptism for their child then there is the option of a blessing or dedication. The Revd John Sutcliffe explained the churches point of view on Baptism in a sermon in 2006.

We believe in an open table for communion. The communion is a meal which can be taken by anyone who believes and you do not need to be a church member or even to be confirmed into any church. Children are welcome to share in it should they wish. It is our practice for the bread and the wine to be distributed by the Elders to the congregation in their seats and it is the custom  for all to eat and drink together..

Learning

We all need to grow in our faith. The URCiC offers several courses to help us do so. We have Bible Study groups which, in 4-6 sessions, study a book of the Bible,  and Lent Groups.  There is also training for church membership and for those who teach and help at our Junior Churches. Nationally the URC offers the Training for Learning and Service Programme(TLS).

Fellowship

John Donne wrote "No man is an island..." and to worship and learn effectively we need companionship to share our experiences.

There are numerous social and special fund-raising events which take place throughout the year which are open to all, churchgoers and non-churchgoers alike. We also hold regular smaller social gatherings throughtout the year.

For details of all events and timings please check the monthly diary and church events pages regularly.

The URCiC has a partnership with Oggersheim in Germany which has been a very interesting and supportive aspect of our life. The last exchange visit was in July 2007 when a party from Germany came over for a very enjoyable week. Unfortunately a new word had to be added  to their English vocabulary - bowser!.

Children are the future and we do all we can to nurture them in the life of the church. For younger children and their parents we run parent-and-toddler groups. These meet on Monday mornings at Prestbury (Urchins) and on Tuesday mornings at St Andrew's (St Andrew's Parent and Toddler Group). All these groups are open to all members of the community. A new venture is C4 - a  choir for children aged 5-14 to put on musicals. 

Not only are children welcome at our main services but there are also special services for the young at heart - Junp for Joy! are monthly at Prestbury and St Andrew's and for all the family there is Tea Time Praise at Prestbury

 

Service

But Worship also involves service to others. Within the church we offer those who need it Pastoral Care; this is done by the elders or ordinary members, but the Minister can be called upon when required or asked for. When the minister retires some of the elders will be trained to take communion to the housebound.

To assist the global community we have set up the Traidcraft project which sees that Fairtrade goods are available on a stall at all our major events. The profits from the sales goes into the disaster emergency appeal fund organised by the World Church and Mission Committee. It is hoped that one day the URCiC will use only Fairtrade products in its churches.

All churches need the time and talents of their supporters to survive. Some of our members are talented photographers and started the very successful Creative Cards project. This has succeeded in putting the URCiC on the map both nationally and locally.

For further information on how your donations to the church can be greatly increased by signing up to Gift Aid or the several other ways that members of the congregations might assist the church please see congregation information.